2024 Fashion On The Ration Challenge

PipneyJane

Laura_Elsewhere said:

Thanks, Pip! tbh, I suspect if I simply switch to tapwater with a spoon of pure lemon juice in it (sanctioned by my dentist as not too acidic! The only way I can thole this hard water here...), and keep the sweet treats for weekends, I will lose weight considerably. 
I recorded everything I ate or drank yesterday without making any changes from what I've drifted into, and then today again only I stuck to tapwater and no sweet treats nibbled, and by the end of lunchtime today I was on c.600 calories and 13g of added sugar, compared to yesterday when I was on c.1100 calories and an alarming 80-something grammes of added sugars, almost all from drinks, inc the organic cordial I drink more diluted than the bottle suggests but which is of course, like all cordials, still just a flavoured sugar-syrup! 

So that was a useful exercise... 

Afternoon snacks I have a range of things involving very slow-burn fuels, oats and seeds and so on. A banana on its own isn't sufficient, I will still end up with problems, but I mash up over-ripe banana with a drizzle of maple syrup (<10% by weight) and some chopped dried apricots and the same weight of porridge oats as of banana, and then press that into a tin and bake it for 20 mins at c.200ºC and it makes really good slow-burn fuel bars. Only I forget to make them... on tomorrow's list... this afternoon I had two apples and a clementine, and a small bowl of plain whole yog mixed with frozen fruit and seeds (sesame, poppy, linseed, sunflower, pumpkin)- I make up a batch of five little lidded jars, about 125g each, and those are lovely with no added sugar. 

What is the proportion of dried apricots, please, @Laura_Elsewhere?  Having found some bananas lurking in the freezer, I may attempt to bake a batch this afternoon.

Sorry to hear that your water is as hard as ours.  Knowledge and self awareness are good things - well done with the tracking. Changing your drinks may be the main change needed to your diet.  

- Pip

PipneyJane

I have another finished jumper to show off, although technically I’m not sure I can really call it finished-finished.  I’ll explain more in a minute.  First the jumper:



The pattern is called When You’re Off Duty and is a free pattern from the V&A’s Wartime collection.  (The first link is to my Ravelry page, where I’ve included a chart for the lace, while the second is to the V&A.)

Now, the reason it isn’t finished-finished is that the buttons I originally chose, are totally wasted.  You can’t easily see them on my shoulder, so I have to change them.



What a waste!  If I’m going to wear flash buttons, I’d like them to be seen from the front.

I’ve been through my button stash and don’t have two suitably sized black buttons.  (This is something that can wait until I can go back in the shops.  I’m not certain I can delegate DH to choose them.)

- Pip

PipneyJane

@Laura_Elsewhere said:

Afternoon snacks I have a range of things involving very slow-burn fuels, oats and seeds and so on. A banana on its own isn't sufficient, I will still end up with problems, but I mash up over-ripe banana with a drizzle of maple syrup (<10% by weight) and some chopped dried apricots and the same weight of porridge oats as of banana, and then press that into a tin and bake it for 20 mins at c.200ºC and it makes really good slow-burn fuel bars

Naturally, I couldn’t wait to try these bars, so I used this afternoon’s energy surge to make them.  The four bananas I defrosted gave me 305g of mush and liquid.  I added 42g of maple syrup - it glugged too fast to stop at 30g - 305g porridge oats, 10 dried apricots, chopped (which had been lurking in the fridge for well over 11 years based on the BBE on the bag), and, being me, a quarter cup of sunflower seeds.  All pushed into my small lasagne dish and baked as instructed.   They’re still cooling but, naturally, I had to try one:



Yummy!

Amazingly, the banana flavour isn’t that strong.  Does it get stronger as they cool?  Once they’re cold, I’ll store them in the fridge.

Thanks again, Laura, for the recipe.

- Pip

Laura_Elsewhere

@PipneyJane, that's about right I find there's barely any banana flavour- it's just a great way of using up overripe bananas, or a great way of having something that feels like it's a biscuit-flapjack-thing that has no fat and very very little added sugar... it still feels like a treat, despite not having most of the stuff that makes treats bad for you! 
Chopped dates are nice in it too... I find raisins/sultanas tend to scorch during baking, although I keep pondering trying to put them in as a sandwich-layer as they are nice. I occasionally add quartered glace cherries but that's very indulgent and really only occasionally! Oh, and you can drizzle melted dark or white chocolate over the top when it comes out of the oven if you like. Just make it up, really  

My next plan is to try making it with stewed apple replacing the bananas, to reduce the food-miles. I made a Dorset apple-cake last year which was delicious with chunks of apple all through it, so I quite like the idea of mixing oats with stewed apple plus little chunks of apple (about the size of a large choc-chip)... maybe some nutmeg... 

Blood pressure yesterday when we first resurrected our old monitor was similar to GPs' reading, c.150/100, and same again last night, but this morning first thing was away down to 138/85 which gives me optimism that reducing my sugar intake and going out several times a day for a short brisk walk will actually make a difference. I really don't want to go onto meds to treat high BP if I can instead reduce the BP into normal range- my Mum has been on hypertension meds since forever, and now has a shoebox of meds to treat the side-effects of the meds- still, the only thing actually wrong is high blood pressure but no meds keep working forever so gradually you end up moved off the best ones and onto ones with more side-effects, so then meds to tackle those, etc. 
I've always been proud to be the only female on either side of the family to have got past her 30s without high blood pressure meds, and would really like to keep that going! Meds if needs be, but I hope GP will allow me to have a couple of months to show her I can reduce it... 

We sorted through my boxes of fabric yesterday and reduced thirteen boxes to eleven, and combined/repacked so as to empty two underbed storage boxes (they are under-table, because the twelve under-bed ones are filled with Mr E's DIY things, sigh...). 
I am making another of the 1929 petticoats to wear as a dress- the red linen one I made in February is lovely but I have expanded just a bit so it is difficult to get in and out of. So as I know the pattern, I shall make another- it really is very quick and simple. The most fiddly bit is the pockets, which it wasn't intended to have originally  
The pattern is this- I chose to make mine with a front and a back and then to actually add side-panels in the skirt (with the pocket opening at the top of the gathered piece), rather than cutting it with the side-piece as an extension of the front and back pieces, iyswim. I made wide shoulder-straps, about 1.5" wide, and about 12" long, and made the dress reversible  https://www.flickr.com/photos/14033721@N06/3229637968/in/album-72157603944474719/

potplant

Thank you @Laura_Elsewhere, that was great recipe timing; my daughter  came home with lots of Too Good to Go bananas! Here with seeds on top, and taste very good.

Liverpool_Anne

Hi all, that recipe looks nice Laura but I fear I will never have enough bananas to make it. I have at least one every day so they never really get a chance to get over ripe or into the freezer though I am passing it on to my dniece who lives in the Caribbean and has her own banana trees which yield masses of bananas but all at the same time .  The only thing I would say is try it without the maple syrup if you want to cut out sugar, or with a tiny bit of canderel if you want the sweetness. My OH was recently told by a doctor that bananas were just sugar on a stick and to eat more protein to lose weight. I am not sure I agree with the doctor on that as they are slow release carbs and with the oats should make a satisfying snack but OH has had some very conflicting advice from doctors about this. I think different people react in different ways to foods but I am sure you'll find what is right for you. 
No spends to report but I have a couple of birthdays looming so will probably have something to declare after I have been shopping
Take care everyone

Watty1

To chip in, the bananas contain glucose which  means the carbs break down into glucose and go straight to the cells. Other fruits mainly contain fructose which is still a sugar but which has to go to the liver to be broken down first so it is a slower releasing sugar than glucose.
Source:  I studied nutrition so it is particularly awkward that my diet is so very poor sadly.  It is on my radar to really change this but currently no heating, no hot water (due to be sorted next week) no kitchen (decorators in) and really busy so muddling through  knowing the biscuit I just ate was a processed food, not good for me and full of sugar and I only ate because I'm stressed and needing a boost of glucose!

Cherryfudge

I think we'll let you have that biscuit, @Watty1, or a banana...? They have potassium too. And it reminds me, I have some to use.

2Scratters

@Laura_Elsewhere re your not lovely tap water have you considered or tried a Brita filter or other similar systems to help rid some of the nastiness in your water. I am fortunate of being in Lancashire and we have very good quality tap water.

2 Scratters xx

Liverpool_Anne

@Watty1, thanks for that info. When I did a patient expert course for my diabetes I was told bananas were slow release carbs so that just goes to show the medics also get things wrong though I must admit to eating bananas because I like them and in my head they are the perfect snack. Also I need the potassium as one of my meds is known to strip potassium from the body and that goes to prove Laura's comment about side effects of certain meds . Every day is a learning experience
Take care everyone